from Tracey G.

Bountiful Pantry Pumpkin Chowder Soup Mix

Well, it looks like this particular mix, the Bountiful Pantry Pumpkin Chowder Soup Mix, is out of stock – it didn’t come up in my search on the KAF site in the soup mix area, so I accessed it via my account from when I ordered it. I did order it last fall apparently, so I’m wondering if it’s just a seasonal product maybe? Either way, I hate it when I buy and make a mix just to find out at the last minute it’s not available for whatever reason. Ugh. But persevere I must…

This soup was super easy to make. You provide just 3 ingredients: water, chicken broth & milk or cream. I used milk when I made it.

It cooks up nicely in about total of 40 minutes. They suggest if you want a creamier soup, that you pop it into the blender ⅓ at a time, and purée. I wanted to do that, but just used my immersion/stick blender for the job. And I didn’t make it completely smooth – it does have rice in it, so I wanted that to still be apparent!

This is an interesting mix. The flavor is sweet and spiced up as you would expect of pumpkin anything – you know, cinnamon etc. It’s good. And, I really enjoyed it, but it’s something for me that one bowl is good enough. Then I’m done. I have a bunch leftover that I don’t think I’ll eat, which bums me out. I may try freezing it. But it’s a soup I’d enjoy ordering out in a restaurant where I don’t have to deal with leftovers and whatnot.

I’d also say it’s one you’d have to try so you could decide on it, it’s hard to describe – but it’s very distinct. Hopefully if you ever do want to try it, they’ll have it back in stock!

from Kris B.

I am beginning to think that I should stick to story telling rather than baking because this post, like many of my recent ones, is about the story rather than the recipe.

As is the case with Tracey’s soup mix, I also ordered this mix for Ancient Grains + Cranberry Bread awhile back and it no longer seems to be available.  Unfortunately though, it is not just out of stock; it is not even listed in the possible King Arthur mixes anymore, which is too bad because the bread is good if you like cranberries and ancient grains – millet, chia, barley, and oats.

I remember buying this Essential Goodness Ancient Grains + Cranberries Super Slice Bread mix because I thought I could get bread with a variety of grains without having to buy and store all of the grains myself.  Seemed reasonable at the time.  Then, when I was ready to photograph the bread from the mix, I decided that the loaf itself looked rather boring.  I knew that I had cranberries and oats, but I’m not a fan of scattering loose ingredients around a finished product.  I decided that I would place the oats and cranberries in small bowls just to add a little extra color and texture to the photo.  When I went to tha pantry to get those two things, I realized that I also had chia, millet, and barley.  Apparently somewhere along the line I forgot the conversation that I had had with myself about not needing to buy all of those things.

After the parceling out of grains into little bowls for the photo, I noticed that I had used such a shallow depth of field that you can’t even tell what they are anyway. 🙂  I could have just as easily, and effectively, used popcorn, chocolate chips, and Rice Krispies!  Oh well…live and learn!

When I realized that I actually had all of the grains that are in this bread mix, I decided to go to the King Arthur Flour recipe search and see if they had a comparable made from scratch bread.  My search yielded:

Ancient Grains Bread 

Score!  Or so I thought.

Nope.  This is a yeast bread rather than a quick bread.  It doesn’t have cranberries.  And, it doesn’t give you the individual measures for each grain.  It relies on King Arthur Flour’s Super 10 Blend, a blend of spelt, millet, rye flakes, barley flakes, quinoa flakes, chia seed, amaranth, teff, buckwheat, and sorghum.  Though this recipe may be very good, it is meant to be a sandwich type bread rather than a snack bread like the mix.

I am disappointed that the Ancient Grains + Cranberry Bread is no longer available.  It is a tasty snack just out of the box, but also included on the box are ways to enhance the basic mix.  The standard mix calls for the addition of 4 eggs, milk, and butter or oil.  However, suggested alternatives are substituting Greek yogurt for some of the milk or bananas for all of it.  The addition of nuts and protein powder is also an option.

I wish that if King Arthur was going to discontinue a good tasting mix, they’d create a close make-from-scratch version of the recipe first!  Oh well.  It was good while it lasted.

Perhaps I can figure out a comparable recipe on my own.  I need to do something with all of those grains!  Stay tuned!